College should be one of the best experiences of your life — and if you’re fortunate enough to be able to go away for college, you should certainly take advantage of it. Don’t just sit in your dorm room, locked up, not enjoying the four-year roller coaster awaiting you. Sure, times can get tough, but like everything in life, you have to pick yourself up and get back to the grind.
Here are some ways to ensure a complete college experience:
Study Abroad
You can head down under with the Kangaroos in Australia, party hard with the Spaniards in Barcelona or have a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris — wherever you choose to go, you can’t make a mistake.
Get out of the US and experience a new culture, new friends and have new adventures. Eat foods you’ve never tried, speak a language you never thought you’d learn and just take in every damn moment of it. Your college experience in another country will be like no other — and that’s a guarantee.
You might love it so much that when you come back and it’s time to graduate, you might want to permanently move back to where you studied abroad. You never know!
Join A Fraternity Or Sorority
If you can afford it and you feel like you could fit in, then by all means, do it. While it’s absolutely not for everyone, Greek life offers events with food and beer, retreats, countless potential romantic relationships and so many friends.
There are all kinds of chapters that aren’t in any way like the ones caricaturized on television and in movies. In addition to social fraternities, there are also professional and service chapters.
Maybe the Human Resources Director or CEO of the company for which you want to work was in your fraternity of sorority — it might give you an edge.
Get Involved And Get Active
Go get involved in school activities; join a club or an organization, volunteer, play a sport — there are so many ways to get involved on and off campus. Being proactive will help you get through those days when your classes are cancelled and you have nothing else to do.
Go to the gym and work out, shoot some hoops, hit up the game room or go to the pool. As long as you keep yourself busy, you’ll never use the words, “I’m bored.”
Meet People
Make as many friends as you can. Who cares what people first think when you randomly sit next to them in the library while they’re studying alone. You never know, maybe the stranger is an accounting wiz who can help you get through that personal finance class in which you’ve been struggling.
Having a bunch of people you can call to hang out with is great — trust me. Plus, meeting people is “networking” and “networking” can certainly lead you to doors that will bring success to your future.
Look at it this way — you came to college for a reason, whether it was for educational purposes or an athletic scholarship, make sure you enjoy it! Don’t let college become a drag — get out there and make those four years your bitch.
